


Under Clothes, Under Skin, Underneath We're All The Same,

by johhoseok



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Codependency, Gen, Josh Dun-centric, Loneliness, Manipulation, Platonic Relationships, Sad Josh, Sad Josh Dun, Short & Sweet, dont worry tylers not normal either lmaoo, more like josh manipulates himself but-, totally happy and normal friendship between two bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 06:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19145236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johhoseok/pseuds/johhoseok
Summary: Tyler digs Josh out of a terribly lonely hole just to put him in a new one.





	Under Clothes, Under Skin, Underneath We're All The Same,

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be like 10 times longer and more graphic, but my English Honors final was to write a short story and I turned this in. Might as well post it here too lol

 

 

Josh had a routine.

It was a good routine. It kept him in check, it kept him happy.

It was simple. Wake up, go to the quaint coffee shop down the street, go to work at the record store, go home.

It became boring and tedious at times, but Josh was ok with that. He always told himself that change was bad, that change would be the death of him. Repetitiveness kept him sane, after all.

But life tends to work in funny ways because one morose Tuesday when he's working the evening shift at the record shop, a familiar face walks in.

A lanky boy with coffee-colored hair and dark eyes. He had recognized him from the day before and the day before.  _ And  _ the day before.

The store is completely empty. It saddens him that his favorite place since childhood is running low on business, but there's nothing he can do besides watch as less and less customers show up every day.

The boy walks around the shop as if he's going to buy something, just like the days before. He always leaves empty-handed and Josh assumes that'll be the case again.

Josh learns he shouldn't assume things because the coffee haired boy is suddenly right across from him and he's placing a record on the counter.

"You don't have to stare at me, I'm not going to steal anything." There's no offense in his voice. Josh looks down at the register before speaking.

"Sorry." It's a one-word reply. He's definitely not looking to continue the conversation.

"You work here alone every day. It's always so quiet." Josh nods and continues checking the item out.

"You just happen to come when I'm doing the evening shift. The quiet is nice." Josh didn't consider himself a closed off person, he just wasn't used to customers being so friendly and talkative.

"Yeah. The quiet is, uh, yeah- it's nice." The man stumbles and Josh finally looks up to hand the man his bag. When he does, he notices how dark his eyes really are, as if something hid behind them.

Josh thinks nothing of it and continues with his shift.

This happens for the next few weeks. The same lanky boy entering the shop every day. It was annoying the first few times, the awkward one-sided conversation that the former just so insisted to carry on, but Josh thinks he's come to like it. He hates to admit it, but having someone to talk to is quite nice.

He learns on the third week that the lanky brunette is named Tyler.

He learns on the fifth week, after a cup of coffee, that he and the lanky brunette named Tyler are friends.

He learns on the ninth week that the lanky brunette named Tyler takes pills.

Josh tries to ask Tyler what he takes pills for, but he always seems to close himself off and never answer the question. It all feels a bit... weird, to say the least, but Josh ignores it. Josh ignores the misty eyes that never seem to reflect the smile he has on his face. Josh ignores the messy home that appears to get messier every time he visits and Josh ignores the mumbles under his breath that he knows he's not supposed to hear. He doesn't want to come across as pushy, after all.

He can't afford to lose his only friend.

A few more weeks go by and it's another morose Tuesday, just like the day the two inseparable friends met. They sit in the practically empty, quaint coffee shop as usual. Josh has his macchiato in hand as Tyler sits across from him, twiddling his thumbs, his hands clearly shaking before him.

Josh doesn't want to annoy the brunette but he's oh so worried. He looks up from his phone and speaks up.

"Uh, Tyler? Are you okay?" Hesitance is clear in his voice and Tyler's head almost snaps up.

"'M fine. Just been thinking, is all." Tyler gives Josh a half-hearted smile but Josh knows its insincere.

"What, erm, what're you thinking about?" Josh looks back down. Tyler's eyes always seemed so empty, he can't help but only see his own reflection.

"Just..." Tyler pauses. His hands tremble and Josh finds himself looking back up again. "Do you ever wonder what hides beneath our skin?"

Josh feels as if there's a rock in his throat. His voice wavers but he tells the lanky boy what he wants to hear.

"I, uh... I guess. Some-sometimes."

"Do you want to find out?"

5 minutes is all it takes and Josh finds himself in the passenger seat of Tyler's car. While he sits there he looks up the term codependent.

co·de·pend·ent

/ˌkōdəˈpend(ə)nt/

_ adjective _

  1. characterized by excessive emotional or psychological reliance on a partner, typically one who requires support on account of an illness or addiction.



He reads the words a third time before locking his phone and stuffing it back in his pocket. Josh is not codependent. He just knows when something is too good to lose. Would you let go of the only person that cares about you all because of a few  _ minor  _ setbacks? Exactly.

Josh is  _ not _ codependent and Josh does  _ not _ need Tyler.

When Tyler parks the car in his driveway, the sun is just starting to peek through the dark gray clouds.

It's a shame it'll have to set in an hour or so.

"Cmon. I was scared to show you. I thought you'd freak out. Everyone freaks out, they always do." The lanky brunette leads Josh through his house, he's seen it all, of course. "But  _ you _ . You're different, Josh. You're one of a kind." Tyler directs Josh to a door somewhere across from his kitchen and down the hallway. Weird, he's never noticed this door before.

"There's something I've always wanted to try, but I've been too scared to do it on my own. Josh, I think you're perfect for this." He opens the door and Josh finds himself following him down soggy wood floors. The boy seems all too frantic. To be completely honest, it scares him.

"Quickly, Josh! Look, isn't it perfect?"

The sight bestowed before Josh was  _ not  _ perfect, in fact, it was horrifying. He nearly recoiled in revulsion and terror.

Josh expected the 'thing' Tyler was so excited about to be something cool, like a pool table, or a waterbed.

I guess some things are too good to be true because the 'thing' Tyler's so excited about is a person tied up in the corner of his basement.

"Tyler! Why..." Josh has his hands over his mouth and his eyes blown wide.

"No, Josh, you don't get it. I've always wanted to know what's underneath  _ this _ ." He rolls up his sleeves and pinches the skin on his arm as if he was demonstrating something. "We can finally find out!"

The person in the corner isn't moving, but they're definitely breathing. They don't look bruised or beat, just exhausted and sad.

When Josh turns his attention the lanky boy, he's pulling something out from another corner of the basement. It's dark, but Josh makes out a gun. It’s a small black pistol.

Josh is about to ask what he's doing when Tyler nudges the pistol towards him, a smile inches up his face.

"Take it, Joshy. Make the first move and I'll finish the job."

Josh physically convulses in reaction. He wants to knock the weapon out of the latter's hand but then he sees Tyler’s eyes. His empty, empty eyes are glowing with the sun and stars. It’s the first time he’s seen his best friend genuinely happy and Josh knows he has no choice but to take the gun.

 

Three hours later, Josh is sat in the passenger seat of Tyler’s car. The only difference is now the sky is a scary black, the two boys aren’t the only ones in the car and there’s blood on Josh’s hands.

They reach their destination in a few minutes. You wouldn’t be able to tell, though. The destination was in the middle of an empty field, a forest nearby. Everything seems to move a little too fast because suddenly Josh is helping his friend carry a 197-pound bag out the trunk of his car and laying it on an empty patch of grass.

It’s blurry. Far, far too blurry. The lighter Tyler pulls from his coat pocket, the body engulfing into flames and the way the moon watches Josh with shame.

The two boys study the fire. Josh speaks up.

"Tyler, I can’t live with this. I killed someone, I-" Tyler turns to him with a grin on his face, almost devilish. He wouldn't lie, Tyler scared him, too.

"It's alright, Joshy. We'll be fine." Nothing feels real, this  _ can't  _ be real. Tyler's hand reaches for his back pocket and Josh steps back. 

"What are you doing, Tyler?" Panic washes over Josh like a wave and he finds himself unable to move.

"Do you know how to  _ fix  _ a life replete with guilt and regret?" The gun is in the others hand and suddenly Josh is staring down the barrel of a pistol. The fire was blazing only a few feet away making the right side of Tylers’ face flicker with light.

When Josh doesn't answer, Tyler answers for him.

"It took me a while to figure the answer out myself, but I soon realized, you can't  _ fix  _ a life.” Tyler cocks the gun. “The only option is to end the life." 

His fingers are on the trigger and Josh wants to run but he has nowhere to run to. 

"This is for us, Joshy."

 

The last thing Josh remembers is closing his eyes and raising his hands to block his face.

The last thing Tyler remembers is the color red, the gun turning and pressing against his temple.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> YES I did do a whole fanfic based on the "time stands still, time stands still" intro. AND YOU KNOW WHAT IM PROUD
> 
> If you don't know what this fic was in reference to just look up the title of this story
> 
> (edit: I got an A on my final lmao I lost one point.)


End file.
